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Coracles on the River Teifi, West Wales 1972. The two people pictured are John (forefront) and Will Davies of Cenarth – the last two legitimate Coracle fishermen in Cenarth. They are both using the single arm method of propulsion – a means of gliding downstream in a controlled way. They carried their boats (and their fish) home on their backs.
The coracle is a small, roundish shaped,[1] lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales but also in parts of Western and South West England, Ireland (particularly the River Boyne),[2] and Scotland (particularly the River Spey); the word is also used of similar boats found in India, Vietnam, Iraq and Tibet.[3] The word "coracle" comes from the Welsh cwrwgl, cognate with Irish and Scottish Gaelic currach, and is recorded in English as early as the sixteenth century. Other historical English spellings include corougle, corracle, curricle and coricle.

Contents
StructureEdit

A coracle on the River Severn near Ironbridge
Oval in shape and very similar to half a walnut shell, the structure is made of a framework of split and interwoven willow rods, tied with willow bark. The outer layer was originally an animal skin such as horse or bullock hide (corium),[4] with a thin layer of tar to make it fully waterproof – today replaced by tarred calico or canvas, or simply fibreglass. The Vietnamese/Asian version of the coracle is made somewhat differently: using interwoven bamboo and waterproofed by using resin and coconut oil.[5] The structure has a keel-less, flat bottom to evenly spread the weight of the boat and its load across the structure and to reduce the required depth of water – often to only a few inches, making it ideal for use on rivers.

Each coracle is unique in design, as it is tailored to the river conditions where it was built and intended to be used. In general there is one design per river, but this is not always the case. The Teifi coracle, for instance, is flat-bottomed, as it is designed to negotiate shallow rapids, common on the river in the summer, while the Carmarthen coracle is rounder and deeper, because it is used in tidal waters on the Tywi, where there are no rapids. Teifi coracles are made from locally harvested wood – willow for the laths (body of the boat), hazel for the weave (Y bleth in Welsh – the bit round the top) – while Tywi coracles have been made from sawn ash for a long time. The working boats tend to be made from fibreglass these days. Teifi coracles use no nails, relying on the interweaving of the laths for structural coherence, whilst the Carmarthen ones use copper nails and no interweaving.

They are an effective fishing vessel because, when powered by a skilled person, they hardly disturb the water or the fish, and they can be easily manoeuvred with one arm, while the other arm tends to the net; two coracles to a net. The coracle is propelled by means of a broad-bladed paddle, which traditionally varies in design between different rivers. It is used in a sculling action, the blade describing a figure-of-eight pattern in the water. The paddle is used towards the front of the coracle, pulling the boat forward, with the paddler facing in the direction of travel.[6]

Another important aspect to the Welsh Coracle is that it can be carried on his back by one person. 'Llwyth dyn ei gorwgl' — the load of a man is his coracle. (Welsh saying).

HistoryEdit

Britons with coracles - from Cassell's History of England, Vol. I

A typical River Teifi coracle in Manordeifi Old Church
Designed for use in swiftly flowing streams, the coracle has been in use in the British Isles for centuries, having been noted by Julius Caesar[4] in his invasion of Britain in the mid first century BC, and used in his campaigns in Spain. Remains interpreted as a possible coracle were found in an Early Bronze Age grave at Barns Farm near Dalgety Bay, and others have been described, from Corbridge and from near North Ferriby.[7]

According to Ian Harries, coracle fisherman, coracles are so light and portable that they can easily be carried on the fisherman's shoulders when proceeding to and from his work. Coracle fishing is performed by two coraclers. Where fishing is performed by two people, there is one fisherman per coracle. The net is stretched across the river between the two coracles (the coracler will paddle one handed, dragging the net in the other) and drawn downstream. When a fish is caught, each hauls up an end of the net until the two coracles are brought to touch, and the fish is then secured, using a priest (or knocker – a small block of wood) to stun the fish.

In the 1920s and 30s James Hornell personally visited hundreds of rivers in the British Isles to talk with remaining coracle makers and users, in order to save the tradition. This resulted in his major book British Coracles and the Curraghs of Ireland (The Society for Nautical Research, 1938) containing drawings, diagrams and construction details gleaned from regular makers.

TodayEdit
Coracles are now seen regularly only in tourist areas of West Wales, and irregularly in Shropshire [8]on the River Severn – a public house in Sundorne, Shrewsbury called "The Coracle" has a pub sign featuring a man using a coracle on a river. The Welsh Rivers Teifi and Tywi are the best places to find coracles in Wales, although the type of coracle differs depending on the river. On the Teifi they are most frequently seen between Cenarth, and Cilgerran and the village of Llechryd.

In 1974 a Welsh coracle piloted by Bernard Thomas (~1923–2014[9]) of Llechryd crossed the English Channel to France in 13 1⁄2 hours. The journey was undertaken to demonstrate how the Bull Boats of the Mandan Indians of North Dakota could have been copied from coracles introduced by Prince Madog in the 12th century.[10][11]

For many years until 1979, Shrewsbury coracle maker Fred Davies achieved some notability amongst football fans; he would sit in his coracle during Shrewsbury Town FC home matches at Gay Meadow, and retrieve stray balls from the River Severn. Although Davies died in 1994, his legend is still associated with the club.[12]

The Coracle SocietyEdit

The Coracle Society is a UK-based organisation was founded in 1990 by its former president, Sir Peter Badge. The five founding aims of the Society were:

To promote the knowledge of coracles, curraghs and allied craft, their making and use, and also their study and collection,
To take all reasonable steps to support the continuance of fishing involving the use of coracles and to encourage the holding of coracle regattas, races and the like,
To publish a newsletter as a means of communication between all those interested in coracles,
To use its best endeavours to obtain supplies of materials for the construction of coracles, and
To promote demonstrations, courses, exhibitions, discussions and lectures relating to coracles.[13]
The current president of the Society is Dr Irving Finkel, Assistant Keeper in the Department if the Middle East at the British Museum, who is known for decoding a cuneiform tablet detailing Noah's Ark – the description of which resembles a very large coracle.[14] The current Society chairperson is Jude Pilgrim, a committee member of the Heritage Lottery Fund. She recently played an instrumental part in setting up the Ironbridge Coracle Trust, formed to save the Eustace Rogers coracle hut in Ironbridge from demolition.[15]

There are many Society members across the country who demonstrate at events and/or run coracle building courses, helping meet the Society's founding aims. A list of some of this year's events can be found on the official Coracle Society website.

The Society was present at the 2005 Shrewsbury River Festival, where they displayed various coracles on the River Severn. There is also an annual coracle regatta held in Ironbridge on the August Bank Holiday Monday every year. Organised by the Green Wood Centre until 2014 and the Ironbridge Coracle Trust from 2015, it is run on an informal basis whereby anyone with a coracle can take part in the event. Each year new entrants come with coracles made on the Bank Holiday weekend at the Green Wood Centre.

Members of the Society support the annual world championship coracle races in Shrewsbury, which raises funds in support of Macmillan Cancer Support.

In 2010, the Society celebrated its 20th anniversary with a number of events planned to recognise this important milestone, including a morning of talks at the National Coracle Centre in Cenarth. In 2015, the Society celebrated its 25th anniversary at its founding home of St Fagans National History Museum. A number of events took place, including a talk from Dr Irving Finkel about his experiences decoding the Noah tablet and making the accompanying Channel 4 documentary. The Society also supported the return of coracles and coracle regattas to Welshpool in 2015.[16]

SafetyEdit

The design of the craft, as explained above, makes the coracle an unstable craft. Because it sits "on" the water, rather than "in" it, the vessel can easily be carried by currents and the wind. The Coracle Society has published guidelines for safely using coracles.[17]

Similar craftEdit

The Ku-Dru or Kowa of Tibet is very similar to a coracle—Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Yak skin coracle in Tibet, 1938

Yak skin coracle in Tibet, 2006

An Indian coracle near the River Tungabhadra, in Hampi India

Indian coracles are frequently used on the Kabini River, Karnataka, India

Coracle on the Kaveri river. Some like this are used by vendors

Two Indian coracles on the Tungabhadra River

Dimensions of Indian coracles
The oldest instructions yet found for construction of a coracle are contained in precise directions on a four-thousand-year-old cuneiform tablet supposedly dictated by the Mesopotamian god Enki to Atra-Hasis on how to build a round "ark". The tablet is about 2,250 years older than previously discovered accounts of flood myths, none of which contain such details.[18] The earliest known written evidence of a coracle-type boat (quffa), still in use today, is in the Bible, Exodus 2:3.

The Irish curach (also currach or curragh) is a similar, but larger, vessel still in use today. Curachs were also used in the west of Scotland:

The curach or boat of leather and wicker may seem to moderns a very unsafe vehicle, to trust to tempestuous seas, yet our forefathers fearlessly committed themselves in these slight vehicles to the mercy of the most violent weather. They were once much in use in the Western Isles of Scotland, and are still found in Wales. The framework [in Gaelic] is called crannghail, a word now used in Uist to signify a frail boat.

— Dwelly's [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary[19]
The currachs in the River Spey were particularly similar to Welsh coracles. Other related craft include:

India – parisal
Iraq – kuphar or quffa
Native American societies – bull boat
Tibet – ku-dru and kowas
Vietnam – thung-chai
Indian coracleEdit
Indian coracles (Tamil:பரிசல், Kannada:ಹರಗೋಲು,ತೆಪ್ಪ) are commonly found on the rivers Kaveri and Tungabhadra in Southern India.[20] Coracles are primitive, light, bowl-shaped boats with a frame of woven grasses, reeds, or saplings covered with hides.[21] Indian coracles are considered to have been in existence since prehistoric times,[21] and are a major tourist attraction at the Hogenakkal falls on the Kaveri river.[22] Although these boats were originally designed for general transport, they have recently been used mostly for giving tourists rides.[23]

TypesEdit
The coracles found in the Hogenakkal are of two types, which differ mainly in size. The smaller ones are about 6.2 feet (1.9 metres) in diameter, and are used primarily for fishing. The larger ones, which measure up to 8.4 feet (2.6 metres) in diameter, are used for tourists.[24]

DesignEdit
Indian coracles are either saucer or bowl shaped and circular, with the greatest diameter across the mouth. The circular coracles in Iraq are very similar, but they have convexly curved sides, and thus the mouth is not the widest part.[20] Indian coracles are on average about 7.3 feet (2.24 metres) in diameter,[24] but can still hold eight people at a time.[22] Other kinds of coracles usually can only hold one person.[25] Indian coracles, and coracles in general, are made of bamboo and take about a day to build, given all the necessary materials.[24] The bottoms of the boats are covered in hides, or sometimes with sheets of plastic, in order to make them waterproof.[26] In modern times, a sheet of LDPE plastic is often embedded between two layers of bamboo. Sometimes the bottom of the craft is tarred to make it waterproof. Coracles are steered and propelled using a single paddle, making them unique.[24]

ConstructionEdit
The boats are made primarily from bamboo. The first step in construction is a basic framework woven from bamboo sticks. Then the bottom is further reinforced with the addition of more bamboo sticks, making the boat's base sturdy. Once the bottom is structurally sound, the lowest points of the sides are defined by a circumferential band of three flat strips of bamboo woven into the existing lattice. The sides of the boat are then made with 20 to 30 adjacent strips of bamboo. Finally this framework is again strengthened by lightweight bamboo, making sure that the sides are not heavier than the base.[24]

The boats had earlier been waterproofed by using hides of animals, but these days plastic sheets are used for this purpose as they are cheaper as well as easily available.[24] The waterproofing is further enhanced by a layer of tar,[24] a feature which is common in most contemporary coracles.[25][27]

^ "Death of a river legend". Tivyside Advertiser. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
^ Wales on Britannia: Facts About Wales & the Welsh
^ John, Gilbert (5 April 2008). "'Coracle king' to hang up paddle". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
^ Gentlemen of the River by Phyllis Blakemore. Stenlake Publishing ISBN 978-1-84033-473-9
^ The Coracle Society constitution Archived 4 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
^ The Telegraph - Irving Finkel: reader of the lost Ark
^ BBC News - 'Last' coracle shed in England saved by Ironbridge charity
^ [2]
^ Coracle Society safety guidelines Archived 27 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
^ Gabrielle Jonas (28 January 2014). "Noah's Ark Was Round, Based On 4,000-Year-Old Mesopotamian Instructions That Are 'Mathematically Accurate'". International Science Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014. Four thousand-year-old cuneiform instructions on how to build a round "Noah's ark" have turned out to be mathematically on-target, the British Museum curator who translated the text told the International Science Times Monday.
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Look up coracle or coracles in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coracles.
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Treasure Island: Chapter 24: The Cruise of the Coracle
The official website of The Coracle Society
The National Coracle Centre at Cenarth Falls
The Coracle Maker – website of coracle maker Terry Kenny
World of Coracles website
BBC Legacies – Coracles article
World of Boats (EISCA) Collection ~ Parisal from Tamil Nadu, Southern India
Coracle ferries in Hampi
Historical note from the Coracle Society of Wales
Brief history and design principles
Coracle making courses at Green Wood Centre
The Welsh Coracle
Coracle-making courses at Assington Mill, Suffolk
Annual Coracle Regatta

Those Mountains that you're carrying, you were only supposed to climb.

Sooty - coracles are fucking amazing......never knew until you shared all that shit - thanks man, might help me keep my world in spin xxxTo view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

oh sorry folks ..... just don't know when to stop digging To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.I guess when I hit paydirt ha ha ha ha ha ha xxx

Sooty - coracles are fucking amazing......never knew until you shared all that shit - thanks man, might help me keep my world in spin xxxTo view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Used to try n make em outa thick polythene and split down willow n hazel as a kid, near drowned myself on many an occasion but great fun! Lol

Those Mountains that you're carrying, you were only supposed to climb.

We used to use lorry inner tubes with a bit of wood tied over them. Great fun if you ignore the drowning risk due to none of us being able to swim...

Aye Rick, sometimes I look back on the stuff I got up to as a kid and wonder how the hell I am still here! The mollycoddled PlayStation / Xbox generation of today have no idea of the true meaning of being a kid...I.E. let's see what fun we can have wi h a penknife a rope and that tarpaulin we found.. luckily when I was a kid all we wanted was to be outdoors, up the woods enjoying
Life, kids these days unless mega fortunate don't have the same freedoms we had, everything is off limits...sad really

Those Mountains that you're carrying, you were only supposed to climb.

tin baths and a small river, air rifles (gotta start off small , maybe a gat gun), bits of rope , railway lines, boarded up farm house via upstairs window using a hay bale dragged from the barn and a few pallets , building sites, the tip ...........

Remember well when they were building a golf course near us, the kids from different villages all in the area assembled on different areas behind huge piles of mud with a collection of air rifles, catapults, sticks etc and great fun was had. As a bonus, no one even lost an eye...

Knifes, rope, fire, c90s, thunderbird red, camping all weekend, no mobiles, in fact not even 10p for the phone box.. Kids today really dont know what they are missing!

tin baths and a small river, air rifles (gotta start off small , maybe a gat gun), bits of rope , railway lines, boarded up farm house via upstairs window using a hay bale dragged from the barn and a few pallets , building sites, the tip ...........

Did we used to hang out together as kids?
My first aigun was a gat too! And I've entered my share of boarded up,properties too...

Those Mountains that you're carrying, you were only supposed to climb.

We had a disused railway line literally 100 yards up the road. There was a cast iron signal tower with ladder still there, pile of old grass and hay at the bottom and we'd be jumping off it..
Old boarded up water mill two villages up the track, mates parents had a farm a bit further up, there was a wier leading to the sea and some old army pill boxes the other direction.
I dont think its kids denied the freedom these days, but they just dont want to do it. We couldnt wait to finish school and get out, or disappear camping for the weekend coming hone Sunday tired and hungry to get a bit of food and sleep before school..

anyways, getting back on thread ...... I have vivid recollections of how critically unstable tin baths were and also remember how inner tubes of all sizes were equally so , my thoughts now are to combine the 2 with the aid of ratchet straps , expanding foam and gorilla -glue ......

update on plans , I got a lot of gaffa tape and 2 plastic water butts . are outriggers allowed on coracles ?